Artist: Dakini
Country: India
Label: Final Agony
Formats: 7″ EP
Year: 2025
Nope. Black/Noise (or Blacknoise) has never been a genre that attracted many people, for quite obvious reasons. Even today where everybody all of a sudden is jumping on the Beherit-goes-live bandwagon, the Black/Noise scene is very much happening in the very deepest margins of the Black Metal genre. But, it has to be said, with the recent re-release of Beherit’s ‘Messe Des Morts’ by Werewolf Records, the upcoming reissue of Abruptum’s darkest and noisiest work by Nuclear War Now! Productions and also the tentative rehabilitation of Havohej, or rather the belated recognition of that band’s significance, is giving the genre a slightly higher appeal to those seeking for an even more savage sonic soundscape.
Still, like a true boy scout, you have to look for new acts in this particular pond. So of a real upswing we cannot speak. Like all previous years, it is still a matter of delving deep and being patient. In recent years, however, fans could, to their great delight, gloat over Tsalal, Blackstream and Kiloton, for example. In the same ranks also fits Dakini, although few productions, the previous (and first) feat dates back to 2020, it can without a doubt be counted as a highlight in the genre.
That 2-track demo was followed up by a digital single that was added as an extra track on the War Vellum reissued 2020 demo. Now we have reached 2025 and finally see the follow-up work, a 7” EP released by the always interesting Final Agony label.
Yet, musically Dakini has gone a bit of different direction. Those who were able to digest the 2020-demo, simply called ‘Promo 2020’, might remember the frantic wild vocals, thundering over thick layers of plain noise, hissing and reverb. If you are really knee-deep in that noise-filled swamp, then ‘In Kali-Yuga, Veda-Mantras Are Futile’ is quite a different beast to tame.
Like that 1-track single, ‘No Woman Is Needed For Spiritual Attainment If Woman Is Truly Understood’, the individual elements on this new 7” EP are much easier to determine. Saying that it sounds more accessible would be a laughing matter, but, in a way: yes, it is easier to wrap your head around. Especially if you are enjoying your fair share of bands like Tetragrammacide or Nyogthaeblisz. With its bellowing (and pitch shifted?) vocals over heaps of distorted instruments and relentlessly pummeling drums, it is almost a Conqueror vs. Dead Infection collision. Deadly, horrifying and most of all: absolutely deafening.
Hell no. This is not easy listening and not at all accessible, but I am sure this amazing piece of blind frenzy will appeal to many more people than the Indian band’s ‘Promo 2020’. If you recognize yourself in the customer profile of the above, then you know where to turn to find your niche.
